Game Over
by Rehime
Summary: Looking up, Sora could see his heart floating away. [AU one shot, Kingdom Hearts II]


One of the weirder pieces I've done, inspired by the screen that appears when Sora dies and he's floating there, along with his heart.

This fic is AU for KH II. Basics of KH II story required to understand (for example, you know whose Nobody is whose).

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Sora and Kairi would have made out at the end of KH II and Axel and Roxas would be unarguable canon.

Pairings: Sora x Kairi, but you'll need a magnifying glass. AkuRoku.

It is my sincere hope you enjoy this fic.

:o:o:

Game Over  
by Talim-Hime

The floor is cold.

Sora's cheek is numb from it, pressed against the floor. But lifting his throbbing head would be too much to ask. He can only turn it, slowly as not to hasten the painful pulse.

Looking up, Sora could see his heart floating away.

A red balloon, plump and cheerfully colored, escapes the confines of Sora's grip and twirls in delight.

Sparks fall out of the balloon-heart, remnants of the power that made it pure. They make up a string that trails behind, and Sora reaches out again.

A child wanting his balloon back after carelessly letting it go in the first place.

His arm does not follow his hand, however, and the heart floats above his reach and vanishes into some nameless, unfathomable abyss.

His fingertips slap back onto the floor, and the cold now seeps up his arm and body.

Or is that the cold the newly heartless feel?

Sora thinks he should know, he's been through this before.

But having experience in this doesn't seem to be helping.

Sora didn't remember being cold last time, for one thing. Nor had it been this quiet.

He _does_ remember that he thought he heard a chorus and an orchestra, humming and playing, going pitch to pitch with Donald's screams and accompanied by the clumsy steps of Goofy as he ran toward Sora. Everything was slow, the climax drawn out for the gut-wrenching, tear-inducing pleasure of a non-existent audience.

Kairi played the role of the heartbroken beautifully, making sure to wake up seconds after Sora has already begun his fall backward. She fails to catch him. Naturally.

It was tragedy at its finest.

But this time the script is all wrong, everything is going at its normal pace and the audience is distracted and the orchestra wasn't paid –

Sora's pupils grow small.

Was he going insane?

His ears pick up the sound of sobbing. Sora reluctantly turns his head to the side again.

The floor is still cold.

A red-haired man whose spikes could blind someone was on his knees, a blonde boy pressed against his chest. Sora recognizes it as the boy who emerged from his body seconds after the chakram was thrust into Sora's chest. Before his balloon-heart had escaped the confines of his chest.

Axel. That was his name.

Axel embraces Sora's creation tightly, the creation's upper body forcefully propped as the legs went ignored.

A doll without its batteries.

Axel lowers the boy a little to inspect the face.

From his vantage point, Sora can see the boy finally open his eyes.

The batteries have kicked in, apparently.

"Axel?" the boy-doll whispers hoarsely.

Axel nods feverishly and wipes his face of the tears he shouldn't be able to produce. He presses the boy close again, his chin atop the blonde's head.

Sora doesn't know what to make of this, except that he'd really like someone to be smothering _him_ against their chest. Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, someone – the floor was still cold, after all.

Sora feels his legs disintegrating.

He felt his body become light and vanish entirely.

There wasn't much sensation to it.

As his vision dispersed, he could see his very own doll-boy gather enough energy to wrap his arms around Axel's neck.

It was no longer cold, and Sora forgot what it is to feel.

:o:o:

His friends, however, did not.

:o:o:

Miles away from Sora's demise, Donald and Goofy's frantic search is interrupted as they simultaneously feel a frigid chill shoot through their bodies.

:o:o:

Planets away from Sora's demise, a replica of a silver-haired man feels his insides grow cold and knows he has failed.

:o:o:

Light years away from Sora's demise, a red-haired girl is carried to the school nurse after collapsing, muttering something about how cold it was.

:o:o:

A few feet away from Sora's demise, Axel walks out of the Twilight Mansion. Roxas is asleep and being carried bridal-style.

The boy shivers, and presses closer.

Axel raises an eyebrow in concern, that again, should have been beyond him.

The woods behind Twilight Town are as drafty as the abandoned house. Looking around to make sure the duck and the dog hadn't found him, Axel gently goes onto his knees and shifts Roxas' weight to a single arm. Axel diverts his element into his other arm.

The newly freed hand cups a gentle flame. He brings it closer to the sleeping boy.

He wakes up and looks up to smile weakly.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You looked cold."


End file.
